Yarn changing mechanism for knitting machines



M. c. MILLER 1,837,470

YARN CHANGING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Dec. 22, 1931.

Filed'Nov '25, 1925' 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Int/,6

Dec. 22, 1931 M. C. MILLER 1,837,470

I YARN CHANGING MECHANIS M FOR KNITTING MACHINES I Filed Nov. 25, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 22, 1931. M. c. MILLER YARN CHANGING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Nov. 25, 1925 3''sheets-sheg-t 3 Patented Dec. 22, 1931 PATENT OFFICE MAX 6. MILLER, OF CUMBERLAND, RHODE ISLAND YARN GING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Application filed November 25, 1925. Serial No. 71,815.

The invention relates to yarn feeding and changing mechanisms for knitting machines, and has to do articularly with machines that produce fa ric by relative reciprocation of a needle bed or beds or cylinder and the cams or devices which form the knitting wave to which the yarn is fed by the yarn eye or eyes. I

The invention is herein disclosed as embodied in a machine of the Lamb type, the specific machine illustrated being a Burson straight knitting machine, but while particularly adapted for use in this type of machine the invention is not limited thereto.

In apparatus previously evolved for the production of fabric composed of various types and colors of yarns on Lamb type or similar knitting machines, the mechanisms employed have permitted of only a rather limitednumber of changes, and have been more or less in the way of the other operating parts.

The object of the present invention is to produce a simplified and improved yarn feeding andchanging mechanism for knitting machines which will allow a much larger number of variations in thedesign of the fabric produced without in any way interfering with or impairing the operation of the machine.

The principal feature of the invention consists in the use of a relatively reciprocating yarn eye so designed as to permit the removal from and entering into it of various yarns guided to the eye by any suitable means, as for instance, swinging yarn fingers mounted at one end of the path of the yarn Other features consist in the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The severalfeatures of the present invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in F the art from the'following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention as emodied in a double bank straight bar Burson hosiervmachine. In the drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view isliowing the yarn carrier plate coming toward its operative cam prior to making the change of yarn. Fig. 2 is a cross sectional elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the yarn carrier plate slightly further advanced than in Fig. land at the end of its stroke and with its eye free of any yarn. Fig. 4; is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a plan view showing the yarn car- 60 rier plate at the commencement of its return movement prior to receivin the new yarn in its eye, and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 5.

The Burson machine in, which the present 06 invention is embodied has two banks of needles set at an angle to each other, and has mounted to reciprocate above the needles a yarn eye carrier of the usual constructionconsisting of a plate supporting latch open ers and needle holddowns.

Referring to the drawings the needles indicated at 2 are carried on needle beds 4. Curved web holder hooks are indicated at 6 and are mounted'to reciprocate under the parallel bars 8 which are designed to sup ort the reciprocating yarn eye carrier 10. This carrier consists of a plate slidably mounted' on the bars 8 to move back and forth above the line of intersection of the needles and is so actuated in the usual manner by means of link 11. It is also equipped with latch openers 12, and needle holddowns 14.

In order more readily to change the yarn being fed to the work than heretofore has been possible the present construction includes a yarn eye 16 rotatably mounted in the yarn eye carrier plate, and is held in position by means of a clip 17 and screw 19. A slot 18 in the plate and a correspondingslot 20 in the yarn eye piece are provided to permit yarn to enter or escape from the yarn 'eye. When the slots are not in line with each other the yarn feeding at that time through the central hole in the yarn eye 16 is prevented from freeing itself from the influence of the moving yarn eye carrier 10.

The yarn eye is rotated to swing the slots into line or out of line by means of a gear segment 22 formed on the upper part of the yarn through the yarn eye to the work.

eye piece which engages a rack 24 transverse- 1y mounted in a bracket 26 on the carrier plate 10. A vertical pin 28 formed at one end of the rack provides a convenient means for actuating the rack. The yarn eye is always maintained in a closed position as it passes over the needle beds by means of a stationary cam 30 which forces the pin 28 outward at this point in the forward movement of the carrier.

To the side of the yarn carrier slide and at one end of the needle beds is situated the yarn finger stand 32 carrying the fingers 34 to accommodate the various yarns used in the work. The fingers are'loosely mounted on a horizontal shaft 36 and are provided with tail projections 38. A cam shaft 40 mounted on the yarn finger stand carries cam disks 42 each to engage the projection on its corresponding yarn finger and swing it out toward the center line of the machine to place a new yarn in the yarn eye. Springs 44 areprovided to draw the yarn finger back out of the way when released by its actuating cam disk so that the yarn eye carrier will pass over those yarns not at that moment used in knitting without interference. A notch 46 is cut in the carrier support bar 8 to receive the inactive yarns.

Movement is imparted to the cam shaft 40 from the pattern devices of the machine by the reciprocating link 48 thru a pawl 50, and ratchet 52 fastened on the shaft. The pawl is mounted on an upwardly extending arm 54 pivotally mounted on the cam shaft 40 and connected at its upper end to the link 48. A coiled spring 56 tends to hold the pawl in engagement with the ratchet.

In order to bring the slots in the yarn eye and the yarn eye carrier into alignment to cooperate with the yarn fingers in changing the yarn a lever 58 is mounted on a pivot 59 beside the yarn carrier slide opposite the point where the carrier finishes its retracting stroke and is provided with the angled surface 60 to engage and push in the vertical pin 28. The lever 58 is actuated from the cam shaft 40 by means of a cam 62 on the shaft the bevelled surfaces 64 of which engage one end of a pin 66 movably mounted in a guiding sleeve 68 on the yarn finger stand. The other end of the pin 66 presses against one arm of a bell crank lever 70 mounted on a pivot 72, the other arm being connected by a link 74 with a lever arm 76 projecting from the hub of the lever 58. A spring 78 coiled about the pivot 59 tends to hold the lever 58 out of the path of the vertical pin 28 so that the yarn eye will remain ordinarily in a locked position.

The yarn indicated at 80 is fed from a cone through the yarn tension which is provided for each yarn, up through a small hole in the yarn finger as shown at 82, and from there The inactive yarns leading to the point in the work where they were last knitted are held by their yarn fingers in a retracted position below the path of the yarn eye carrier..

In operation when a point is reached in the knitting of the fabric where it is desired to substitute a new yarn the ratchet link'48 is actuated to rock the cam shaft 40, and the lever 58 is forced inward against the pressure of its spring 78 so that as the carrier approaches the limit of its retracting stroke the vertical pin. 28 is forced inward along the angled surface of the lever to open the yarn eye. The yarn tension which is provided to take up slack yarn draws the yarn out thru the now open slots making way for the new yarn. A further rocking of the cam shaft releases the yarn finger which swings down under the tension of its spring 44 to remove the discarded yarn from the path of the yarn eye carrier,'and another selected yarn finger actuated by its cam disk swings out to take its place.

The new yarn connected to the fabric at the point where it was last knitted is thus held directly in the path of the returning carrier, and is guided between the latch opener 12 and needle hold down 14 thru the slots into the yarn eye. As the cam shaft 40 and the cam 62 revolve the lever 58 is permitted to swing outward again in response to the pressure of its spring 7 8. The further movement of the yarn eye carrier over the needles causes the stationary cam 30 to force the pin 28 outward revolving the yarn eye to lock the yarn in the eye.

While the invention as disclosed is herein embodied in a double bank straight bar latch needle machine it can readily be seen that certain broad features of the invention are applicable to other types of knitting machines of either fiat or circular construction.

What is claimed is:

1. In a two-bed straight knitting machine the combination with the needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the pas sage of a yarn, a rotatable yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a rack and gear segment, a lever acting in conjunction therewith to turn the yarn eye to align the slots, and a fixed cam adjacent to the lever for turning the yarn eye to close the passage to the eye before the yarn eye carrier passes over the needles.

2. In a two-bed straight knitting machine the combination with needle banks of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of a yarn, a rotatable yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a rack and gear segment, a lever acting in conjunction therewith to turn the yarn eye to align the slots as the carrier nears the limit of its stroke, a multiplicity of yarn lingers, and pattern mechanism for actuating the lever and the yarn fingers so that the feeda ing yarn will be drawn out of the yarn eye and a selected new yarn will be positioned to enter the yarn eye on the return stroke of the carrier.

5 3. In a straight knitting machine the combination with the needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of a yarn, a yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a multiplicity of yarn fingers, a rack and pinion to revolve the yarn eye, a cam shaft to operate the yarn fingers, and intermediate connections for operating the rack and pinion from the cam shaft to position the yarn eye to receive or' discharge a yarn.

4. In a straight knitting machine the combination with the needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of a yarn, a yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, cam operated means for rotating the yarn eye to align the slots with each other and open and close a passage for the yarn, yarn fingers, and pattern mechanism for actuating the fingers and the cam operated means in timed relation to place selected yarns in the yarn eye.

5. In a straight knitting machine the com bination with the needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of a yarn, a yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a fixed cam for moving the slots out of alignment to close the yarn eye, a cam lever for aligning the slots to open the eye, a plurality of yarn fingers, and mechanism including a cam shaft for actuating the fingers and the cam operated means in timed relation to place selected yarns in the yarn eye.

(3. In a straight knitting machine the combination with the needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of a yarn, a yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a cam lever adapted to align the slots to open the yarn eye, means for positioning the yarn finger to place a yarn in the yarn eye, means actuated thereby to move the cam lever to align the slots to open the yarn eye, and a fixed cam for moving the slots out of alignment to close the yarn eye.

7. In a straight knitting machine the combination with the needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of a yarn, a rotatable yarn eye slotted tocooperate 5 with the slotin the yarn eye carrier, cam

means adapted to turn the yarn eye to align the slots as the carrier nears the limit. of its stroke, a multiplicity of yarn fingers, automatic mechanism for actuating the fingers, and means cooperating therewith for automatically controlling the cam means so that the feeding yarn will be drawn out of the yarn eye and a selected new yarn will be positioned to enter the yarn eye on the return stroke of the carrier."

8. In a straight knitting 'machine the con1- bination with the needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of a yarn, a rotatable yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a cam lever adapted to turn the yarn eye to align the slots as the carrier nears the limit of its stroke, a multiplicity of yarn fingers, a fixed cam adapted to close the yarn eye before the carrier passes back over the needles, and pattern mechanism for actuating the fingers and the cam lever so that the feeding yarn will be drawn out of the yarn eye and a selected new yarn will be positioned to enter the yarn eye on the return stroke of the carrier.

9. In a straight knitting machine the combinationwith a series of latch needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of the yarn, a rotatable yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a multiplicity of yarn fingers, automatic means for actuating the yarn fingers, mechanism cooperating therewith for automatically rotating the yarn eye to align the slots and place selected yarns in the yarn eye, and a latch opener having a surface adapted to guide new yarns into the slotted portion of the carrier.

10. In a straight knitting machine the combination with a series of latch needles ofa reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of the yarn, a rotatable yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slotin the yarn eye carrier, a multiplicity of yarn fingers, automatic means for actuating the yarn fingers, mechanism cooperating therewith for automatically rotating the yarn eye to align the slots and place selected yarns in the yarn eye, and a latch opener and a needle holddown formed on the yarn eye carrier and provided with converging surfaces forming a guideway to feed new yarns into the slotted portion of the carrier.

11. In a two bed straight knitting machine the combination with latch needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of the yarn, a yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, means including a cam for rotating the yarn eye to align the slots with each other and open and close a passage for the yarn, yarn fingers, mechanism for actuating the fingers and the cam operating means in timed relation to place selected yarns in the yarn eye, and a latch opener secured to the needle carrier having a surface shaped to guide the selected yarns into the slotted portion of the carrier.

12. In a straight knitting machine the combination with a series of needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of the yarn, a rotatable yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a multiplicity of yarn fingers adapted to introduce arns. through the slots into'the yarn eye, a Xed cam, a cam lever, and means actuated by the fixed cam to rotate the yarn eye to closed position and by the cam lever to rotate the yarn eye to open posito cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, and mechanism for placing selected yarns in the yarn e e mounted at one end of the needle series an comprising yarn fingers, a fixed cam, a cam lever, and means actuated by the fixed cam to turn the yarn eye to close the assage through the slots in the yarn eye and y the cam lever to rotate the yarn eye to align the slots to open a passage to'the yarn l l. In a straight knitting machine the combination with a series of needles of a reciproeating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of the yarn, a rotatable yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, means for rotating the yarn eye to open and close the eye, yarn fingers adapted to introduce yarns through the slots into the yarn eye adjacent one end of the needle series, a cam lever adapted to cause said means to align the slots with each other and open a passage for the yarn, and a fixed cam for actuating the said means to close the passage to the yarn eye as the yarn eye carrier passes over the needles.

15. In a straight knitting machine, the combination with the needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of a yarn, a yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a plurality of yarn fingers, means for positioning a yarn finger to place a yarn in the yarn eye, means situated adjacent the end of the travel of the yarn eye in pne direction to open and close the yarn eye, and pattern mechanism adapted to actuate the said means for actuating the yarn fingers and for opening and closing the yarn eye in timed relation.

16. In a straight knitting machine, the combination with a series of latch needles, of

.a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of the yarn, a rotatable yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a multiplicity of yarn fingers, and a latch opener and a needle hold-down formed on the yarn eye carrier and having adjacent surfaces shaped to provide a guideway to feed new yarns into the slotted portion of the carrier.

17. In a straight knitting machine having a frame support, the combination with a series of latch needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of the yarn, the slot being widened at its outer end to guide the yarn into the slot, a rotatable yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a multiplicity of yarn separate from the yarn fingers for rotating the yarn eye to align the slots with each other and open and close a passage for the yarn, and means forautomatically actuating the yarn fingers and the said mechanism in timed relation to place selected yarns in the yarn eye.

18. In a straight knitting machine having a frame support the combination with the needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of a yarn, a rotatable yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a multiplicity of yarn carriers arranged to operate in parallel relationship, mechanism supported on the frame for rotating the yarn eye to align the slots with each other to open and close a passage to the yarn eye, and means for actuating t e yarn fingers and the mechanism for rotating the yarn eye in timed relation.

19. In a straight knitting machine the combination with the needles of a reciprocating yarn eye carrier slotted for the passage of a yarn, a rotatable yarn eye slotted to cooperate with the slot in the yarn eye carrier, a multiplicity of yarn carriers arranged in parallel relationship to interpose yarns in the path of the yarn eye, means for rotating the yarn eye to align the slots with each other to open and close a passage to the yarn eye, and means for actuating the yarn fingers and the means for rotating theyarn eye in timed relation to place one or more yarns in the yarn eye.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

MAX C. MILLER.

fingers, mechanism supported on the frame 

